Eight players still undefeated heading into final day of USBC Senior Queens
April 24, 2023
2023 RESULTS
LAS VEGAS – Match play began Monday afternoon, and eight players went undefeated to remain in the Winners Bracket at the 2023 United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens, which is being contested at Gold Coast Bowling Center.
That list includes Tish Johnson of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Crystal Shaw-Wesby of Pikeville, North Carolina; Pamela Pancoast of Lomita, California; Della Kallenback of Fairfield, California; Sandra Schultz of Macomb, Michigan; Kathy Ledford of Boise, Idaho; Dana Ausec of Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Beth Owen-Cipielewski of Bradenton, Florida, all of whom went 2-0 on the day.
Another eight players remain alive in the Elimination Bracket after going 2-1 on Monday. Those players are defending champion Jodi Woessner of Oregon, Ohio; Raelyn Hazen of Roy, Utah; Leanne Hulsenberg of Pleasant View, Utah; Chong Dodson of Panama City, Florida; Jill Friis of Canada; Sharon Powers of Lakewood, Colorado; Devera Buckley of St. Louis; and three-time champion Lucy Sandelin of Tampa, Florida.
Although 16 players remain in the field, one bowler clearly stood out during the first two days of action, and that is Johnson.
The 2018 champion led qualifying with a 15-game total of 3,326 (221.73 average), which put her 160 pins ahead of her closest pursuer – Owen-Cipielewski qualified second with 3,166.
Johnson’s dominance continued once match play began as she won her opening bout by 113 pins (701-588) over Kimberly Power-DeFer of Hayward San Leandro, California, before going on to top second-round opponent Diso by 132 pins (634-502).
Competitors who won their first two matches were done for the day, so Johnson, a USBC and Professional Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Famer, earned the rest of the night off and more time to nurse an ailing big toe on her slide foot.
She will be back in action Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. Eastern taking on No. 9 seed Shaw-Wesby, who kept herself undefeated by taking down Lauri Cohrs of Colorado Springs, Colorado (631-572) and Jennifer Hernandez of Land O Lakes, Florida (606-575).
Johnson’s place among the final eight unbeaten is hardly a surprise; after all, she was the tournament’s top qualifier.
However, some may have been taken aback to see Ledford’s name still occupying a line in the Winners Bracket after two rounds.
After all, at just 50 years old, the right-hander from Boise, Idaho, is a Senior Queens rooke, and her qualifying total (2,912) was more than 400 pins behind Johnson’s, which put her in 27th place.
But as anyone who has bowled the Senior Queens will tell you, the tournament doesn’t start until match play begins, and Ledford showed herself to be more than ready once bracket action got underway.
She opened the afternoon with a 601-587 victory over No. 6 seed Powers, and then, for an encore, she sent 2022 champ Woessner into the Elimination Bracket after coming out on the winning end of a 701-653 decision.
Ledford closed out her win over Woessner in style by starting Game 3 with 10 strikes in a row before leaking the 11th shot a bit to the right and leaving a six count to end her run at 300. Still, the 285 she recorded was more than enough to lock up the match and move her to 2-0 for the day.
While Ledford certainly would’ve liked to have finished off the perfect game, the disappointment was minimal as she accomplished the more important goal of staying in the Winners Bracket.
“Winning my first two matches today was huge because now I get to rest and put three less games on my body,” Ledford said. “I feel very fortunate to be in this position and be able to come back tomorrow morning refreshed because that’s what I need.”
Although Ledford is competing with the seniors for the first time, she doesn’t lack experience as she competed in the USBC Queens multiple times before turning 50 and becoming eligible for the Senior Queens.
Those past experiences included some deep runs through the bracket, so Ledford knows that she’s more than capable of having success when she gets back on the lanes Tuesday morning. In order to do so, she plans to keep things simple.
“I need to keep clean, make my spares and keep myself close enough to or far enough ahead of my competition to take advantage of what’s given to me,” Ledford said. “I saw my opponent today, and I know that she throws it really well. That match is going to be tough.”
The opponent about whom Ledford was speaking will be Sandra Schultz of Macomb, Michigan, who qualified 14th (3,017) before going on to defeat Michele Carter of National City, California (636-605), during Round 1 and Hazen (727-681) in Round 2.
If Ledford can get past Schultz, she will need just one more win to guarantee herself a spot in the stepladder finals.
When asked what it would mean to her to make it to the finals and win the tiara, Ledford was overcome with emotion. After a long pause, with tears running down her cheeks, she simply said that it would be the greatest bowling accomplishment of her life.
She’ll set her sights on accomplishing that goal when play resumes Tuesday morning as matches will continue until the top five are determined for the stepladder finals.
All bracket matches leading up to the stepladder will be three games with total pinfall determining who advances. The Senior Queens features a true double-elimination format, so the No. 1 seed for the stepladder would have to lose twice in the championship match.
BowlTV.com is providing livestream coverage of each round of competition. The stepladder finals will take place Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern with the champion taking home the tiara presented to the winner and an $8,000 top prize.
LAS VEGAS – Match play began Monday afternoon, and eight players went undefeated to remain in the Winners Bracket at the 2023 United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens, which is being contested at Gold Coast Bowling Center.
That list includes Tish Johnson of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Crystal Shaw-Wesby of Pikeville, North Carolina; Pamela Pancoast of Lomita, California; Della Kallenback of Fairfield, California; Sandra Schultz of Macomb, Michigan; Kathy Ledford of Boise, Idaho; Dana Ausec of Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Beth Owen-Cipielewski of Bradenton, Florida, all of whom went 2-0 on the day.
Another eight players remain alive in the Elimination Bracket after going 2-1 on Monday. Those players are defending champion Jodi Woessner of Oregon, Ohio; Raelyn Hazen of Roy, Utah; Leanne Hulsenberg of Pleasant View, Utah; Chong Dodson of Panama City, Florida; Jill Friis of Canada; Sharon Powers of Lakewood, Colorado; Devera Buckley of St. Louis; and three-time champion Lucy Sandelin of Tampa, Florida.
Although 16 players remain in the field, one bowler clearly stood out during the first two days of action, and that is Johnson.
The 2018 champion led qualifying with a 15-game total of 3,326 (221.73 average), which put her 160 pins ahead of her closest pursuer – Owen-Cipielewski qualified second with 3,166.
Johnson’s dominance continued once match play began as she won her opening bout by 113 pins (701-588) over Kimberly Power-DeFer of Hayward San Leandro, California, before going on to top second-round opponent Diso by 132 pins (634-502).
Competitors who won their first two matches were done for the day, so Johnson, a USBC and Professional Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Famer, earned the rest of the night off and more time to nurse an ailing big toe on her slide foot.
She will be back in action Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. Eastern taking on No. 9 seed Shaw-Wesby, who kept herself undefeated by taking down Lauri Cohrs of Colorado Springs, Colorado (631-572) and Jennifer Hernandez of Land O Lakes, Florida (606-575).
Johnson’s place among the final eight unbeaten is hardly a surprise; after all, she was the tournament’s top qualifier.
However, some may have been taken aback to see Ledford’s name still occupying a line in the Winners Bracket after two rounds.
After all, at just 50 years old, the right-hander from Boise, Idaho, is a Senior Queens rooke, and her qualifying total (2,912) was more than 400 pins behind Johnson’s, which put her in 27th place.
But as anyone who has bowled the Senior Queens will tell you, the tournament doesn’t start until match play begins, and Ledford showed herself to be more than ready once bracket action got underway.
She opened the afternoon with a 601-587 victory over No. 6 seed Powers, and then, for an encore, she sent 2022 champ Woessner into the Elimination Bracket after coming out on the winning end of a 701-653 decision.
Ledford closed out her win over Woessner in style by starting Game 3 with 10 strikes in a row before leaking the 11th shot a bit to the right and leaving a six count to end her run at 300. Still, the 285 she recorded was more than enough to lock up the match and move her to 2-0 for the day.
While Ledford certainly would’ve liked to have finished off the perfect game, the disappointment was minimal as she accomplished the more important goal of staying in the Winners Bracket.
“Winning my first two matches today was huge because now I get to rest and put three less games on my body,” Ledford said. “I feel very fortunate to be in this position and be able to come back tomorrow morning refreshed because that’s what I need.”
Although Ledford is competing with the seniors for the first time, she doesn’t lack experience as she competed in the USBC Queens multiple times before turning 50 and becoming eligible for the Senior Queens.
Those past experiences included some deep runs through the bracket, so Ledford knows that she’s more than capable of having success when she gets back on the lanes Tuesday morning. In order to do so, she plans to keep things simple.
“I need to keep clean, make my spares and keep myself close enough to or far enough ahead of my competition to take advantage of what’s given to me,” Ledford said. “I saw my opponent today, and I know that she throws it really well. That match is going to be tough.”
The opponent about whom Ledford was speaking will be Sandra Schultz of Macomb, Michigan, who qualified 14th (3,017) before going on to defeat Michele Carter of National City, California (636-605), during Round 1 and Hazen (727-681) in Round 2.
If Ledford can get past Schultz, she will need just one more win to guarantee herself a spot in the stepladder finals.
When asked what it would mean to her to make it to the finals and win the tiara, Ledford was overcome with emotion. After a long pause, with tears running down her cheeks, she simply said that it would be the greatest bowling accomplishment of her life.
She’ll set her sights on accomplishing that goal when play resumes Tuesday morning as matches will continue until the top five are determined for the stepladder finals.
All bracket matches leading up to the stepladder will be three games with total pinfall determining who advances. The Senior Queens features a true double-elimination format, so the No. 1 seed for the stepladder would have to lose twice in the championship match.
BowlTV.com is providing livestream coverage of each round of competition. The stepladder finals will take place Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern with the champion taking home the tiara presented to the winner and an $8,000 top prize.